Buller’s Birds: The Art of Keulemans and Buchanan

Buller’s Birds

Mel Williams, Visitor Services

I adore books. I always have and I consider myself a true bibliophile... A friend of books. So I was very excited when I found out we were hosting a travelling exhibition based on an iconic New Zealand book here at Kiwi North.

“Buller’s Birds: The Art of Keulemans and Buchanan” is an exhibition developed and toured by Te Papa and features beautiful print reproductions of illustrations from the rare first edition of “A History of the Birds of New Zealand”.

This book was creative by two men, Author and Ornithologist Walter Buller and Artist Johannes Keulemans. Together they created what is still regarded as New Zealand’s most famous book on native birds.

Walter Buller has strong ties to Northland. He was born in the Hokianga in 1838 and grew up in the Kaipara town of Tangiterōria. His father was a devout Methodist and spent his life as a missionary and minister within the Wesleyan mission. Walter was the second of 10 children and was educated at the missionaries’ Wesleyan College in Auckland before moving with his family to Wellington when he was 17.

Although he had a passion for ornithology and natural history, he followed a very different early career path, becoming a Native Interpreter in the Magistrates Court. He was described as possessing energetic self-promotion and quickly made his way through the ranks of the Native Department. When Governor George Grey expanded the network of magistrates in the Māori districts, Walter was appointed Resident Magistrate in the Manawatū where he was involved in the purchase of land for the Wellington provincial government.

His passion for natural history never wavered however. Walter continued to collect and write about birds and at 19 years old was admitted as a fellow of the Linnean Society of London, which is the world’s oldest active biological society, founded in 1788. In 1865 Walter Buller was invited to contribute a small appendix to an essay written by renowned missionary and writer Richard Taylor, but he used the opportunity to submit his own work entitled “Essay of the ornithology of New Zealand” which overshadowed Taylor and established Walter as an authority on ornithology.

After negotiating a government grant and leave on half pay, Walter Buller travelled to London to have his comprehensive book published. That book was “A History of the Birds of New Zealand”, for which he recieved wide acclaim.

Johannes Keulemans was a very different man, but with a similar passion. The Dutch artist spent most of his life in England illustrating many of the most popular 19th century books on ornithology. Birds were his subject of choice and Johannes went on to create between 4,000 - 5,000 published illustrations during his lifetime. Most of his pictures were produced through traditional lithography, meaning he could produce an image that was vivid and lifelike, with depth and tone.

Johannes’ other passion was spiritualism. He adamantly believed that he had a premonition of his own son’s death. Having sent three of his children to London during an outbreak of smallpox in Paris where they were living at the time, he claims he woke one morning to hear his four year old son Isadore’s voice and that he saw his face. This apparition returned the following day. Soon after, he received a letter advising of his son’s failing health, however Isadore had died since the letter was sent. He had passed away on the day of Johannes’ first premonition.

Johannes became increasingly interested in spiritualism, which he believed could be awakened by the painting of a birds eye, however he later became disenchanted with the amount of fraud he was encountering. He claims to have gone on to visit almost 400 seances where he gave examples of the trickery he had witnessed.

Currently running at Kiwi North, Buller’s Birds: The Art of Keulemans and Buchanan displays exhibition prints of illustrations used in Walter Buller’s “A History of New Zealand Birds” and its smaller spin-off, “Manual of the Birds of New Zealand”.

Also showcased are print reproductions of original hand-coloured lithographs by Johannes Keulemans from the rare first edition, as well as drawings and engravings relating to the later publications by New Zealander John Buchanan.

The passion, knowledge and talent of these two men is evident in the book they created together and the art on display is compellingly beautiful. This exhibition is running in the Mim Ringer Gallery at Kiwi North until May 14th 2023.